Truist Financial Corp Has $15.29 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 89.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,820 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Watsco were worth $15,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the second quarter worth $26,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 242.9% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 2,366.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $386.24 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $535.40. The company has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $358.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.77.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.